Free reeling fishing reel



Oct. 22, 1935. J. P. SHAW Re. 19,740

FREE REELING FISHING REEL Original Filed April 27, 1932 6 land ReissuedOct. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Original No.

1,897,499, dated February 14, 1933,

Serial No. 607,861, April 2'1, 1932. Application for reissue September'7, 1934, Serial No. 743,165

17 Claims.

This invention is an improvement in fishing reels and the principalobject of the invention is to provide a free-reeling fishing reelenabling the operator to perform all operations necessary to a fishafter being caught on the hook without the necessity of the operator'shand being removed from the crank which operates the spool, the reelbeing wound to wind in the line by a clockwise rotation of the'crank,and the spool being secured by permitting the crank to assume astationary position, and free rotation of the spool to feed out play inthe line being permitted by initial counter-clockwise rotation of thecrank, a brake on the spool being applied upon further counter-clockwiserotation of the crank. Hence after a fish is hooked the line may bewound in by clockwise rotation of the crank in the usual mannen'but ifthe fish should give a certain jerk on the line a slightcounter-clockwise rotation of the crank will allow the fish to take outplay in the line, and should it be desired to retard this play in theline further counter-clockwise rotation of the crank will automaticallyapply a brake against free rotation of the spool whereby the motion ofthe fish may be checked. Hence without removing the hand of the operatorfrom the crank the line may be drawn in, or played out, or frictionallychecked at any time by the operator.

Other minor objects of the invention will be hereinafter set forth.

I will explain the invention with reference to the accompanying drawingwhich illustrates one practical embodiment thereof to enable othersfamiliar with the art to adopt and use the same and will summarize inthe claims the novel features of construction and novel combinations ofparts for which protection is desired.

In said drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the fishing reel.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the reel with the end plate carrying the crankremoved, taken in the plane of the line 2-2, Fig. 5, showing in dottedlines the position of the spool brake, and of the pivoted plate carryingthe rewinding gear which meshes with the pinion on the spool shaft.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the end plate, taken in the plane of theline 3--3, Fig. 5, showing the gear on the crank shaft meshing with thepinion on the spool shaft, and. showing the pivoted plate in positionfor normally bringing the gears into mesh, and also showing the spoolbrake carried by the pivoted plate.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the brake applied, andthe pivoted plate swung to unmesh the driving gear with the pinion onthe spool shaft.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5, Fig. 4.

As shown, the reel preferably comprises a frame consisting of an endplate I, and an end 5 ring 2, connected together in spaced relation bybars 3 in the usual manner. Journaled within the frame is a spool 4mounted on a shaft 4a having one end journaled in a. suitable bearing inthe end plate I. The opposite end of the spool 10 carries a plate 4bhaving an annular flange 4c adapted to rotatably fit within the ring 2.

Preferably the end plate 4b is dished inwardly (Fig. 5) and the end ofthe shaft 4a projects into the dished portion of the end plate 4b and 15into a bore in the center of plate 8 (hereinafter described) and apinion 5 (Fig. 2) is mounted upon the end of the shaft to whereby whenthe pinion 5 is rotated as hereinafter explained the reel 4 will berotated. 20

In the ring 2 is a recess 2a preferably wider adjacent the flange 40than at the outer periphcry of the ring 2 and in the recess 20. is afriction block 6 corresponding in shape with the recess adapted to bearagainst the outer periphery of the flange 40 whereby when the block 6 ispushed inwardly rotation of the spool will be retarded. Preferably aring 1 is placed over the ring 2 to maintain the block 6 in the taperedrecess 2a. 30

Upon the outer ring 1 is mounted a plate 8 adapted to be secured to thebars 3 through the rings 1 and 2 by screws to which screws preferablyare of sufficient length to enter tapped bores in the adjacent ends ofthe bars 3 of the frame.

0n the inner face of the plate 8 is a metallic plate 9 pivoted as at 9a,said plate having a centrally disposed recess 9b of sufficient diameterto receive the pinion 5 on the end of the reel shaft 4a. Preferablyopening 9b is elongated sufficiently to permit the plate 9 to pivotwithout touching the pinion 5. Plate 9 is provided with a recess 90, anda pin or screw Ed is entered into the inner face of plate 8 through therecess 90 to limit the pivoting movement of plate 9. Plate 9 is normallyheld in the position shown in Fig. 3 by means of the bow spring l0having one end Illa entered into the plate 8, the spring l0 being bowedaround a pin "lb and the outer end of the spring engaging a lip 9eformed on plate 9 whereby the spring tends to pull the plate into theposition shown in Fig. 3 at which time the screw 9d engages the end ofthe slot 90 furtherest removed from the lip 9e.

Riveted to the plate 9, adjacent the central opening 821 is a stud shaftI2, extending through an enlarged tubular extension 8b projecting fromthe outer face of the plate 8 whereby the stud shaft I2 may move withinthe extension when plate 9 is pivoted. On the shaft I2 is a gear IIabutting against the plate 9, said gear having a tubular extension I Iarotatably mounted on shaft I2, the extension also passing through thepart 8b of plate 8 and beyond the end of the stud shaft I 2. The outerend of extension Ila is squared as at III!) to receive the crank I3 bywhich the gear II is rotated. Gear II is adapted to normally mesh withpinion 5 on the reel shaft 40 when the plate 9 is in normal position, asshown in Fig. 3, whereby rotation of the crank I3 in a clockwisedirection will rotate the reel shaft 4a to wind up the fishing line I4on spool 4.

Extension I Ia is externally threaded as at No, and on the extension IIa beside the gear II is a ratchet wheel I5 adapted to be engaged by apawl I6 pivoted as at IEa. on the plate 8. Ratchet wheel I5 has nothreaded engagement with extension I I a, but is mounted so as to have aslip clutch engagement with the extension Ila. The slippage iscontrolled by a washer nut I5a also threaded on extension I Ia which maybe adjusted towards or away from the ratchet wheel I5 by means of asocket wrench applied through the plate extension 81), the washer nutbeing locked in adjusted position by a lock nut I5b. The above slipclutch arrangement will avoid breakage of the fishing line I4 if thebrake (hereinafter described) is applied too quickly. The pawl I6normally engages the ratchet wheel I5 at a position adjacent the pinion5, and a bow spring IIib engaging the side of the pawl tends to normallyhold the pawl in contact with the ratchet wheel. Pawl I5 however may bepivoted out of mesh with the ratchet wheel as in Fig. 3 by shifting aslide I! on the outer face of plate 8, said slide having a pin I'Ia(Fig. 5) entering a slot Ila: in plate 8 and lying beside the pawl I6,whereby as the slide I1 is shifted the pawl will be correspondinglyshifted against the action of the spring IBb out of engagement withratchet wheel I5.

By this construction when the pawl I6 is in engagement with the ratchetwheel I5 the crank I3 may be actuated to rotate the gear II in onedirection to wind up the line I4 on the spool 4, the pawl overriding theratchet teeth. The pawl however will prevent rotation of the gear II inthe opposite direction; but as the pawl is pivoted on the fixed plate 8,and as the gear II is carried by the pivoting plate 9, when the operatorattempts to rotate the crank I3 in a counter-clockwise direction theplate 9 will be shifted as in Fig. 4 by the pawl IE and will move thegear I I out of mesh with pinion 5 of the spool shaft, permitting thespool to rotate freely in either direction in the frame whereby the fishcan play out the line I4 and no sudden jerks on the line can be hadwhich might cause breakage of the line, rod or reel.

Continued attempt to rotate the crank I3 in a counter-clockwisedirection however will further pivot the plate 9, while the gears 5 andI I are out of mesh, and will bring a block of friction material 20which is carried by the pivoting plate 9 into engagement with the innerperiphery 4c of the spool end plate 4b (as in Fig. 4), thereby exertinga braking effect upon the spool while the gears II and 5 are unmeshed,the pressure of the rake 29 being in opposite direction from the pull ofthe line l4 on the spool 4. thus relieving the strain on the spindlesand bearings.

The brake block 29 may be of any desired material, preferably leather,and its outer periphery is shaped to conform substantially with thecon-' tour of the flange 0 of the spool and constitutes in effect aninternal expanding brake upon the flange 4c of the spool. 5

' out from the spool without obstruction; and the thumb brake 6 may beused while casting to exert a slight friction on the exterior of theflange 40 to prevent tangling of the line by reason of the spoolrotating faster than the line I4 is being 20 played out.

By my novel construction the line may be cast and the auxiliary brake 6used when casting to exert a slight braking effect on the reel toprevent overrunning and consequent tangling of the line 86 while thecrank I3 is rotating freely. When however the slide I1 is shifted toengage the pawl I6 with the ratchet wheel I5 the handle may be rotatedonly in a clockwise direction to wind up the line I4 on the spool, thepawl overriding the 30' ratchet wheel.

However after a fish has been snagged and is tugging on the line, anattempt to then rotate the crank I3 in a counter-clockwise directionwill initially unmesh the gears II and 5 to permit the 35 line to beplayed out by the fish, and further effort to rotate the crank I 3counter-clockwise will further shift plate 9 to bring the brake block 20into contact with the inner periphery of the flange 4c exerting anefficient frictional brake against the 40 flange 4c of the spool tocheck the action of the fish; and hence crank I3 may be used to draw inand play out the line I4 without necessitating the operator removing hishand from the crank during the necessary operations required to land 45the fish.

I claim:-

1. In a reel of the character specified, a frame,

a. spool rotatably mounted therein, a pinion for rotating the spool; amovable gear journaled in 50 the frame adapted to mesh wtih the pinionto rotate the spool in one direction to wind the reel; manual means forrotating the gear; yieldable means normally maintaining the gear in meshwith the pinion; a brake for the spool; said brake 55 being inactivewhen the manual means is rotating to wind the reel; and means wherebyattempted movement of the manual means in the other direction willinitially unmesh the gear and pinion to permit free rotation of thespool and further 50 attempted movement in said other direction willactuate the brake.

2. In a reel of the character specified, a frame,

a spool rotatably mounted therein, a pinion for rotating the spool; amovable plate carried by the 65 frame; a gear journaled on the plateadapted to mesh with the pinion; manual means for rotating the gear;means yieldably maintaining the plate positioned to bring the gear andpinion into mesh; a. brake for the spool operated by the 7 plate; saidbrake being inactive when the gear and pinion are in mesh; and meanswhereby attempted movement of the manual means in one direction willshift the plate and initially unmesh the gear and pinion and uponfurther at- Tl tempted movement will actuate the brake, the yieldablemeans disengaging the brake and remeshing the gear and pinion when themanual means is released.

3. In a reel as set forth in claim 2, said yielding means comprising aflexed bow spring having one end fixed to the frame and the other endengaging the plate.

4. In a reel as set forth in claim 2, said plate shifting meanscomprising a pawl pivoted in the frame and permitting free rotation ofthe gear in one direction, the pawl preventing rotation of the gear inthe other direction and causing the plate to pivot under attemptedrotation of the gear in the other direction.

5. In a reel as set forth in claim 2, said plate shifting meanscomprising a ratchet wheel mounted beside the gear; a pawl pivoted inthe frame and yieldably engaging the ratchet wheel permitting freerotation of the wheel in one direction, the pawl preventing rotation ofthe wheel in the other direction and causing the plate to pivot underattempted rotation of the wheel in the other direction.

6. In a reel as set forth in claim 2, said plate shifting meanscomprising a ratchet wheel mounted beside the gear; a pawl pivoted inthe frame and yieldably engaging the wheel permitting free rotation ofthe wheel in one direction, the pawl preventing rotation of the wheel inthe other direction and causing the plate to pivot under attemptedrotation of the wheel in the other direction; and a slip clutchconnecting the ratchet wheel with the gear.

7. In a reel as set forth in claim 2, a stud shaft mounted on said plateand extending through the frame, and said gear being mounted on theshaft and having an extension connected with the gear rotating means; aratchet wheel on the extension beside the gear and engaged with theplate shifting means; and a slip-clutch connecting the ratchet wheel tothe extension.

8. In a reel as set forth in claim 2, a stud shaft mounted on said plateand extending through the frame, said gear being mounted on said studshaft and having an extension connected with the gear rotating means; aratchet wheel on the extension beside the gear and engaged with theplate shifting means; a lock washer threaded on the extension beside theratchet wheel, and a lock nut threaded on the extension and engaging thelock washer, said washer and nut being adjustable to permit slippage ofthe ratchet wheel on the extension.

9. In a reel of the character specified, a frame, a spool rotatablymounted therein and having a peripheral flange; a pinion within theflange for rotating the spool; a plate pivoted 0n the frame adjacent thepinion; a gear rotatably journaled on the plate adapted to mesh with thepinion; means for rotating the gear; means yieldably maintaining theplate in position to bring the gear into mesh with the pinion; afriction brake carried by the plate within the flange and normallydisengaged from the flange when the pinion and gear are in mesh; andmeans rection will engage the brake with the flange, 5

and yieldable means disengaging the brake and remeshing the gear andpinion when the rotating means is released.

10. In a reel as set forth in claim 9, said yielding means comprising alip extending from the edge of the plate; and a flexed bow spring havingone end fixed to the frame and the other end engaging the lip.

11. In a reel as set forth in claim 9, said plate shifting meanscomprising a pawl pivoted in the 15 frame and permitting free rotationof the gear in one direction, the pawl preventing rotation of the gearin the other direction and causing the plate to pivot under attemptedrotation of the gear in the other direction.

12. In a reel as set forth in claim 9, said plate shifting meanscomprising a ratchet wheel mounted beside the gear; a pawl pivoted inthe frame and yieldably engaging the ratchet wheel permitting freerotation of the wheel in one di- 5 rection, the pawl preventing rotationof the wheel in the other direction and causing the plate to pivot underattempted rotation of the wheel in the other direction.

13. In a reel as set forth in claim 9, said plate 30 shifting meanscomprising a ratchet Wheel mounted beside the gear; a pawl pivoted inthe frame and yieldably engaging the wheel permitting free rotation ofthe wheel in one direction, the pawl preventing rotation of the wheel inthe other direction and causing the plate to pivot under attemptedrotation of the Wheel in the other direction; and a slip clutchconnecting the ratchet wheel with the gear.

14. In a reel as set forth in claim 9, a stud 40 shaft mounted on saidplate and extending through the frame, and said gear being mounted onsaid stud shaft and having an extension connected with the gear rotatingmeans; a ratchet wheel on the extension beside the gear and engaged wtihthe plate shifting means; and a slipclutch connecting the ratchet wheelto the extension.

15. In a reel as set forth in claim 9, a stud shaft mounted on saidplate and extending 50 through the frame, said gear being mounted onsaid stud shaft and having an extension connected with the gear rotatingmeans; a ratchet wheel on the extension beside the gear and engaged withthe plate shifting means; a lock washer threaded on the extension besidethe ratchet wheel, and a lock nut threaded on the extension and engagingthe lock washer, said washer and nut being adjustable to permit slippageof the ratchet wheel on the extension.

16. In a reel as set forth in claim 9, a hand brake mounted on the frameengaging the outer periphery of the spool flange.

1'7. In a reel as set forth in claim 9, means for rendering the plateshifting means inefiectlve.

JOHN PIERSON SHAW.

